Violence Against Women Task Force Meeting - April 29, 2026
Violence Against Women Task Force Meeting - April 29, 2026
The Violence Against Women Task Force, convened by Alderman Tabaras (23rd Ward) and Commissioner Donna Miller, held a virtual meeting on April 29, 2026, at 20:30 UTC. The meeting focused on the mental health and wellness of first responders, particularly as it relates to domestic violence calls. Dr. Lisa Franklin, a licensed clinical psychologist and former deputy corporation counsel for the City of Chicago, delivered a presentation on the psychological toll on officers and the need for systemic wellness interventions. Attendees included representatives from the Cook County Sheriff's Office, Cook County State's Attorney's Office, the Office of Emergency Management and Communications, the 100 Club of Illinois, and other stakeholders. No public speakers were present.
Presentation by Dr. Lisa Franklin
- Dr. Franklin highlighted the high number of domestic violence calls in Chicago (approximately 350 per day according to Chicago police data) and the emotional dysregulation that officers experience. She shared an anecdote of an officer who, due to being already dysregulated, escalated a domestic call, illustrating that officers are not taught to de-escalate themselves.
- She noted that between January and November 2024, 80 Chicago police officers had their police powers stripped, with 20% of those for domestic violence arrests. She argued this indicates multiple prior incidents given the difficulty of arresting an officer for domestic violence.
- Dr. Franklin stressed the concept of moral injury (seeing or doing something that violates one's morals) and how it differs from PTSD. She cited a 2024 American Lawyer survey showing 68% of lawyers meet criteria for generalized anxiety disorder.
- She proposed that wellness must be integrated into every aspect of police work, not treated as a separate class. She recommended short, frequent psychoeducation sessions (e.g., five-minute videos at roll call) and mandatory annual mental health check-ins, funded through department budgets or grants.
- Caitlin Brennan (CEO, 100 Club of Illinois) added that annual mental health check-ins are the number one request from first responders in Illinois, based on their statewide survey data. She noted that the 100 Club provides grant funding for such check-ins.
Discussion on Legislative and Insurance Barriers
- Dr. Franklin clarified that insurance typically requires a diagnosis for a wellness visit to be covered, which creates a barrier because officers fear losing their Firearm Owner's Identification (FOID) card or being seen as unfit for duty.
- Katie Don (working with the violence against women task force) asked about legislative options to mandate insurance coverage for wellness visits without a diagnosis. Caitlin Brennan explained that a recent Illinois law (sponsored by State Rep Mary Gill) intended to require insurance coverage for first responder couple therapy, but the Illinois Department of Insurance stated it has no enforcement authority over that law. The law only applies to self-insured plans offered by counties and municipalities, not to fully insured plans from issuers like Blue Cross Blue Shield.
- Brennan suggested that the most effective approach may be to use risk management and liability arguments to persuade agencies to fund wellness visits directly, rather than relying on insurance mandates.
- Dr. Franklin recommended that agencies use the power of the purse and grants to fund check-ins, noting that a quarter of a million dollars (the cost of one armored vehicle) could fund 1,000 wellness visits and associated research.
Key Outcomes
- Dr. Franklin's recommendations will be considered for inclusion in the task force's ongoing work. The meeting was recorded and will be shared via Legistar for follow-up.
- Attendees agreed to continue conversations and explore ways to implement mental health check-ins, potentially through policy changes, supervisor training, and peer support programs.
- No formal votes were taken. The meeting was adjourned by Alderman Tabaras.
Meeting Transcript
By Dr. Franklin. So thank you so much for being here. And any questions or discussions we want to have after uh will be great. But yeah. So if uh Katie, do you want to introduce yourself next? Yeah, absolutely. Um, good morning, everybody. Um, my name is Katie Don. Um helping all the mentibaris and Commissioner Miller with the violence against women task force. Um this is really uh exciting and personal to a lot of us, and I know that this group will just continue to grow. Um, but this is something when we're looking at at violence against women, and just in some of the data that we've shared so far, we know the number of calls per day just with Chicago police is around 350 domestic calls a day. Um, but also just in line of the recent events last weekend and losing a Chicago police officer. Um I think we need you know, we need to have a healthy system and a functioning system, we have to uh focus on uh their safety and health as well. Um, and so excited to have tonight uh uh comments from the state attorney's office as well, because uh our definition of of first responders includes uh the state's attorneys who are also so embedded in these cases. So um really excited for this and thank you everybody for joining. Um I will kick it off. Before we sorry, before we keep going with introductions, um Alderman Tabaras, can you just call the meeting to order or open up the meeting? Yes, good afternoon. This is Alderman Tabaras with the 23rd Ward. Thank you all for joining us on this violence against women task force as we continue to have conversations and working groups today. We we have a really great speaker that I'm looking forward to hearing what she has to say. Dr. Franklin, thank you for joining us today and everyone on the call. And um, with that, we are starting the meeting and turn it over to Amy. Thank you. Uh, and then uh Brian, do you want to introduce yourself? There we go. Uh Brian CC, Director of Policy for Commissioner Donna Miller. Thank you. Carmen, if you want to go next. Sure. Carmen Navarro Jacone. Uh been working with uh Katie and um Commissioner Miller and Alder Woman uh Tabaras on on all this on the violence against women task force. But um having worked for 32 years in law enforcement, um, we know that the fixing the court system is not only uh public health and community health, but it's just as important to the health um and mental well-being of the officers who are doing the work. So um I'm very excited about seeing the presentation today and discussing um how we can improve the process for everyone involved. Thank you. And then if you just want to popcorn it to somebody else. Absolutely. Uh Caitlin Brennan. Thanks, Carmen. Um, I'm gonna keep my video off after this because I'm sitting in a kitchen at a training that we're doing in Springfield. Um, but thank you, uh Caitlin Brennan. I'm the CEO of the Hunter Club of Illinois. Um, we are a six-year-old nonprofit that works with the first responder community, um, historically working with families after the time of a line of duty loss, uh, but also took around the first responder mental health network in 2020, um, where we got clinicians um provide a number of trainings throughout the state um and focus on mental health and wellness for our first responders and their families. So happy to be here and support. Um I think this is a wonderful, wonderful cause. And uh I know quite a few of you on here. And Dr. Franklin, it's always good to see you too.
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